Back to Memphis
by Rhysati
Summary: Songfic to 'Back to Memphis' by Billy Ray Cyrus. If you've heard the song, you should have a pretty good idea what it's about. If you haven't it's YA with character death. Very sad.


A/N I saw the music video for this on GAC and it made me cry. And I'm not a big crier, so that says a lot! It just screamed 'Songfic!' But when I looked through FF.N, I couldn't find any! Just to warn you, this is my first attempt at both a Yu-Gi-Oh! Fic AND a songfic.  
  
There are a few changes you might want to be warned about. A - there're no Duel Monsters. I'm just borrowing the characters, and made Yami Yugi's older brother. And I'm a die-hard Anzu/Tea+Yami fan, so naturally I had to put them together.  
  
Disclaimer: Back to Memphis is sung by Billy Ray Cyrus and was written by Rusty Tabor and T. W. Hale. Yu-Gi-Oh! and its characters were created by Kazuki Takahashi. I claim no ownership.  
  
~song lyrics~  
  
Back to Memphis  
  
HONK, HONK!  
  
Anzu Moto smiled as she pushed open the door and waved at the mail car as it drove down the street. A hand reached out the window and cheerfully waved back, eliciting a laugh from the young wife.  
  
The happiest day of her life had been when Yami Moto, eldest of the Moto boys, had asked her to marry him. The wedding had been a simply affair - only close friends and relatives - but it was quaint. For their honeymoon, he had surprised her with a trip to Memphis, Tennessee, a city she'd dreamed of visiting since she was a little girl. They'd fallen in love with the city, and moved there shortly after.  
  
They'd moved in August of 2001. September 11th shook the newlyweds deeply, and drove Yami to join the Army. He had completed training just in time to be shipped off to Iraq. It had been an anxious few months until she'd gotten her first letter. He'd been over there now for eighteen months.  
  
The door rattled closed behind her as she trotted off the porch and made her way to the mailbox eagerly. The mailman never honked unless she'd gotten a letter from Iraq.  
  
Sure enough, the box opened to reveal at the top of the stack two flimsy airmail envelopes stuffed full with his letters. Temporarily forgetting the rest of the mail in her joy, she snatched them up and raced back into the house so she could read the words her husband had so lovingly scribed.  
  
~It ain't natural for a delta man  
  
To be surrounded by all this sand~  
  
'My dearest Anzu,  
  
'It's so strange, for a man so used to the moist air of Tennessee to be in the middle of an arid desert.'  
  
~To fear the echoes of live rounds  
  
And to never sleep when the sun goes down~  
  
'A man born and raised to work in a shop shouldn't have to be wary when he hears the echoes of live shots. He shouldn't hear them at all. And aren't you supposed to sleep when the sun goes down? I sure hope YOU do, my love. But we can't do that here. It's too likely that someone will try to attack us in our sleep. We do manage to catch some winks every now and then, though, so you needn't worry that I'm sleep-deprived.'  
  
~So I'm writing you this letter  
  
To say I miss you more than ever and to promise you this~  
  
'You've no idea how much I miss you, my Anzu. The thought of your smile is often all that keeps me going on those long, sleepless nights.'  
  
~When I make it back to Memphis  
  
I'm gonna take you in my arms  
  
And never let you go~  
  
'I cannot wait until this war is over and I can come home to your loving, open arms. Believe me, Anzu - when I get home the first thing I'll do is take you in my arms and never let you go.'  
  
~And girl I promise you a kiss  
  
For every day we've missed  
  
'Til I make it back to Memphis~  
  
'I've been here seventeen months now, I believe. So the second thing I'm gonna do is give you a kiss for every day I've been gone. You've got at least 470 kisses coming you way, my heart!  
  
'All my love,  
  
'Yami'  
  
Anzu smiled softly at his words as she finished the first letter, then gently kissed his signature. "That's just for practice, my love," she whispered. She opened the second letter.  
  
~I'll have to say I think we've done some good  
  
If I had to do it all again I know I would~  
  
'Beloved Anzu,  
  
'Too many people have died in this war. Too many to name - some from my own platoon. Death courts me daily, my love, but I am steadfast and determined to remain faithful to you.  
  
'But despite all the deaths, I think we've done some good, that it's all been worth it. I know that it'd make you cry, but if I had to do it all over again, I know I would.'  
  
~There's still a few shots every now and then  
  
But they say this thing is finally coming to an end~  
  
'Every now and then we still hear a few shots, but for the most part things are cooling down. They say this war's finally coming to an end. Very few die nowadays. People are starting to pack up, and some boys are getting shipped home to their families.'  
  
~So this may be my final letter  
  
I say sooner the better cause I'm ready to come home~  
  
'They've been going through the division, seeing who all have kids or pregnant wives waiting for them at home. Anyone who answers positively is usually gone shortly after. So this might be my last letter before I see you again. And I don't feel too bad about going home before most because I'm ready to go home and see you smile.'  
  
~When I make it back to Memphis  
  
I'm gonna take you in my arms  
  
And never let you go~  
  
'So I don't think it'll be too long 'til you're in my arms again, where you belong. And to make sure you REMEMBER that you belong there, I'll never let you go again.'  
  
~And girl I promise you a kiss  
  
For every day we've missed  
  
'Til I make it back to Memphis~  
  
'It's been eighteen months now. You know what that means? When I'm in Memphis again I've got 500+ kisses for you, and I can't wait until I can give you every single one!  
  
'You're in my thoughts every day, my love. You're with me when I sleep (yes, I do get to sleep now, when I eat, and all the long hours of the watch. I long so see your smile again.  
  
'All my love,  
  
'Yami'  
  
***  
  
~She reads his letters every day, then she puts them all away  
  
Next to his medal and a flag, that she would gladly give back~  
  
A much older Anzu let a tearful smile grace her wrinkled face as she read the worn paper over, engraving the neatly scribed words into her memory and heart as she had done for the past 50 years. The tears spilled as she lowered her head to kiss the smeared letters of his name. She then gently, reverently, folded the letter and slipped it back into its envelope, and placed it with the others next to his medal and the flag that she'd been given by a solemn soldier.  
  
~If it would bring him back to Memphis  
  
So he could take her in his arms  
  
And never let her go~  
  
She longed to see his smiling face just one last time. She wanted so badly for him to gather her weeping form into his arms and never let her go. She needed to be where she belonged.  
  
~'Cause she's still waiting for a kiss  
  
For every day they've missed  
  
'Til he made it back to Memphis~  
  
"You owe me 18,754 kisses," Anzu whispered to a framed picture of him in his uniform, stern of face, but with laughing eyes.  
  
She'd known the risks he'd face, but never had she dared to believe that her precious Yami was truly in danger. Not until that horrible day, when his commanding officer showed up on her doorstep with a worn face, heart-wrenching news, and her husbands personal affects...  
  
Overcome with her grief once again, the widow Anzu Moto sat down be the hearth and cried.  
  
~Back to Memphis~ 


End file.
